Firefox 3 – Joins the 21st Century

Published June 17, 2008

Firefox 3 was released today. From my web stats I know that more and more PC users are using Firefox instead of MS Explorer. So, I thought I’d point out that under Firefox 3 you can now view images online correctly and *accurately. Unbeknownst to most users, Firefox 2 and earlier did not display images correctly.

Of course, getting FireFox 3 to handle images properly takes an extra step or two (Firefox neglected to make it simple by adding a check box in the preferences) but it’s easy and painless to get it to fall into line.

You can edit the color management setting in Firefox by entering “about:config” in Firefox 3’s address bar, agreeing to accept the risk of voiding the Firefox warranty (what risk?, Firefox is free and you can always re-download it) and then typing “gfx” in the filter field. Last step is to double-click the gfx.color_management.enable line to change “False” to “True” and you are all set.

*Following either of the above methods will enable Firefox 3 to present images as they were intended to be seen. Ideally, you still need to calibrate your monitor but using a web browser that can display images correctly is the first step in seeing the true color and tone of image files when they are presented online.